I didn't argue this time. I was drained. I climbed onto the mattress, trying to stay as close to the edge as possible, but as soon as I settled, a heavy arm wrapped around my waist and yanked me backward.
I gasped as I was hauled against his chest. He didn't let me go; instead, he tucked his chin over my shoulder, his breath hot against the shell of my ear.
"What are you doing?" I struggled, but it was like trying to move a mountain.
"You're my 'Spanish mate,' aren't you? Since you're so determined to play the part to save your neck, then play it. Mates don't sleep on opposite sides of the world, Waverly." He taunted.
I froze. I could feel everything. I could feel the rhythmic thud of his heart against my back, and lower down, I felt the unmistakable, heavy hardness of him pressing against my tailbone.
He wasn't even trying to hide his reaction to me.
"You're disgusting," I whispered, though my body was traitorously beginning to relax into his warmth.
"I'm your only hope," he countered.
I wanted to keep fighting. I wanted to stay awake and plan my escape. But the combination of the softest bed I'd ever known and the sheer, overwhelming power of being held by an Alpha was a sedative I couldn't resist.
Despite the danger, despite the jerk holding me, I felt a sense of safety I hadn't felt in nineteen years.
I fell into a deep, heavy sleep before I could even mutter another insult.
____
The transformation felt like a slow erasure of the girl who had survived on grit and coal dust. Rose, Kaeren's sister, was a startling breath of fresh air.
She was soft-spoken and gentle. For a moment, looking into her kind eyes, I felt like I wasn't just a pawn. I felt like a girl.
"Don't worry," Rose whispered, squeezing my hand as we approached the grand dining hall. "They look scary, but they're just family."
No, Rose, I thought, my throat tightening. They're gods. And I'm the heretic about to step into their temple.
Kaeren stood by the double oak doors, looking like a king in a charcoal suit. He didn't look at me with Rose's kindness.
His eyes were like those of a commander inspecting a weapon. "Ready?" he asked.
"Yes," I lied.
My heart was a trapped bird fluttering against my ribs.
The doors swung open, and the sheer scale of the room made me want to gasp. It wasn't just a dining table; it was an altar. At the head sat the Alpha. I'd seen that face on every news broadcast in the Outer District. Beside him was Lynn.
My eyes darted around the table, my heart skipping beats. There was a man in his thirties, smiling so sweetly it felt like a trap. Beside him was Sloane, the girl I'd spent hours watching on social media, her face even more perfectly curated in person. And a stern-looking man.
The clink of silver stopped. Every eye in the room landed on me. Rose released my hand, and Kaeren's fingers slid into mine. The heat of his palm was the only thing keeping me upright.
"Who is this, Kaeren?" Julian asked, beaming.
"My mate. My Spanish ghost in the flesh." Kaeren announced, his voice ringing with a conviction that almost made me believe it.
"Hi." I grinned so widely, I thought my face would split in two.
The silence was deafening until Lynn let out a sharp, cold laugh. "Oh. The Spanish mate actually exist? And how do we know this girl is even worthy of being a Luna? She looks... fragile."
"Since you are handling the enrollment for Sloane, Rose, and Cora in the Luna Training School," Julian interjected, still wearing that saintly smile, "perhaps Waverly should join them? If she passes the one-year course, her worth will be proven."
Luna Training School? My brain stalled. The one right beside the Alpha Academy? The place where the richest heiresses and conglomerate daughters train to rule? Me? A girl who just learned what a bidet is?
"Of course. That would be the best way to see what she's made of." Lynn's eyes lit up with a wicked gleam.
"She needs to settle in first," Kaeren countered, his grip on my hand tightening.
"No. I won't have you making the same mistakes I did. Your mate has to prove herself worthy. She enrolls. It's settled." The Alpha commanded.
I forced a smile, my muscles aching.
Inside, Pia was whimpering. A year of being under a microscope with these people? We're going to be found out before the first bell rings.
Breakfast was a battlefield. I sat beside Kaeren, staring at the array of silver forks and knives like they were surgical tools. I tried to follow Rose's lead, but my hand slipped, and my fork clattered loudly against the china.
"Oh, careful," Sloane giggled mockingly. "I suppose they don't use silver in… Spain?"
"Give her a break, Sloane," Rose defended softly.
"She's just a bit nervous," Julian added, though his eyes never left mine.
"So tell us, Waverly. What High Class Family are you from?" Lynn asked, taking a sip of water.
The question was so sudden, it dropped my heart right into my stomach. My lips trembled as I struggled for what to say, eyes darting around.
"Answer her, Wave! Say something meaningful!" Pia shrieked in my head.
I swallowed a piece of sausage that felt like a lump of lead. "The… the De la Vegas," I managed, grasping for the name Kaeren had drilled into me during our brief, tense briefing in the room this morning.
"A small but ancient lineage. We've kept to ourselves in the Northern Territories for generations before my brief time in Spain."
Sloane's perfectly arched eyebrow shot up. "De la Vega? I don't recall seeing them on the Council registry for the North."
"As I said," I forced a calm I didn't feel, my fingers trembling as I gripped the heavy silver fork, "we kept to ourselves. We value our privacy over… social media fame."
The jab was unintentional, a reflex from years of hating the High Class, but Sloane's smile faltered for a fraction of a second. Lynn's eyes narrowed.
Dear Moon Goddess, please let them buy it. Help me, just this once. I prayed, my fingers starting to shake under all those scrutinizing gazes fixated on me.